iLounge

Despite the country’s seeming fervor for Apple products in recent months, the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G launched in China with no lines whatsoever, according to a new report. Citing reports from Chinese-language Eastday and Netease, M.I.C. Gadget reports that Apple’s flagship stores in Shanghai and Beijing failed to bring in crowds for the release, despite preparations that included hiring black-shirted security guards and the set up of long queues outside the stores, which are shown sitting empty in photos accompanying the report. An anecdotal report from the Beijing Xicheng Apple Store included in the report indicates that the store actually delayed opening for ten minutes due to the fact that there were no customers inside, with the first customers to arrive looking to purchase iPhones, not iPads—the first 3G iPad 2 wasn’t sold until the store had been open for twenty minutes. The report suggests that this particular model isn’t selling well due to a combination of price, the fact that it had been available in other parts of the world for some time and was therefore sold on the grey market, and China Unicom’s data offerings for the device.